Lebedev, the owner of The Indy, the only paper with an editor keen on the press control Royal Charter, has said it is a bad idea.

Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger is suggesting delaying it all for a year.

The Economist has joined the Speccie, Staggers and Private Eye in shunning the new system.

Most of the big newspaper groups are looking less and less likely to go along with things as they stand.

Editors of local papers are livid that they will be brought into this regulatory quango when they are already under financial pressure.

The former campaign manager for Hacked Off has disowned the campaign – “I wanted reform that understood the press, but some of them wanted reform that punished the press. They became more militant, more politically aggressive and I felt uncomfortable with it.”